The 367-mile Texas Gulf Coast now holds an unenviable honor: It is home to six of the nation’s most prolific polluters of benzene, an invisible, deadly gas that elevates cancer rates. The finding was announced Thursday by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project, which spent months poring over data submitted to the federal government by U.S. oil refineries as part of a nascent air pollution monitoring program.
A component of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke, benzene is a carcinogen that can also contribute to respiratory disease and developmental delays in infants. While outsized benzene emissions along Texas’ heavily industrialized Gulf Coast have been in the public eye since at least the late 1990s, the new data offers a glimpse into how the pollution may impact the working-class neighborhoods near refineries. The report comes on the heels of a series of disasters at Texas facilities associated with the petrochemical industry.
“This report shows that almost half of the refineries with the most cancer causing benzene emissions in the U.S. are right here in Houston’s backyard,” said Bakeyah Nelson, Executive Director of Air Alliance Houston. “Governor Abbott needs to get serious about this issue today and direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to crack down on this dangerous pollution.”
